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Why do churches miss the point on missions?

Fr HawtinMission work is an essential element of the Christian way of life, and churches today are devoting an enormous amount of time and energy to it. Individual Christians are increasingly committing themselves to “personal” ministries, offering their expertise to institutions that help the poor and underprivileged.

But has anybody ever paused to consider why—in view of this vast outpouring of effort, energy and expenditure—the congregations of so many churches are continuing their downward spiral? Surely these extraordinary missionary endeavors should be producing some fruit in the form of new converts?

Not so, however. And for the simple reason that large numbers of operations designated as “missions” cannot properly be described as “Christian missions.” While they address serious social ills and pressing needs, modern missions often fail to make even passing reference to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many, in fact, seem embarrassed by it.

This is quite bizarre. After all, the primary purpose of a Christian mission should be to propagate the Faith. For what greater gift can a Christian give than that of faith?

Shoving food into hungry mouths keeps the body together while the soul continues to starve. Ultimately, it is the knowledge that God loves every one of us—that each of us is equally valued as an individual by our Heavenly Father—that empowers the distraught, the downtrodden, and the down-and-out to rise above their circumstances.

Certainly, it is our Christian obligation to relieve their physical distress. It is also a practical necessity. As the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, observed: “You can’t preach to people with empty stomachs.”

But many missions these days address only physical needs. The spiritual hunger goes unremarked and unattended.

No matter what the media and the political demagogues may say, aside from their economic distress, many of America’s poor suffer from a profound spiritual poverty. Visit America’s “inner cities” and you’ll see what I mean.

The city slums of 60 or 70 years ago were sinks of the most appalling poverty. People were direly short of everything that we today would consider the necessities of life—food, clothing and shelter.

But while squalor abounded, they were far from hopeless places. That is because churches of all denominations during the latter part of the 19th Century—inspired by the Anglican Church’s “Catholic Revival”—established a powerful presence in even the most squalid slums.

And with the construction of those magnificent “revival” churches, together with the associated parish houses and schools, they introduced not just the majesty of the liturgy, but a message of love, hope, and comfort that transformed the hearts and minds of the impoverished inhabitants.

To be sure, the privations associated with poverty of were by no means eliminated, but its associated evils were greatly ameliorated by the creation of caring communities—institutions that had never before existed in the dog-eat-dog world of the 19th- and early 20th-century slums.

Oddly enough, the state of the inner city today would shock the slum dwellers of a century ago. It is not unusual for the meanest home in the inner city to have a refrigerator, two television sets and a personal computer. Nor it is unusual for all but the poorest of the poor to own a car.

A century ago such things would be considered to be riches beyond compare. In Manila, Calcutta, Mumbai, and in much of Latin America, they would still be considered so.

But the gifts bestowed on the inner cities by the churches a hundred years ago were incalculably more valuable—not least in the sense of self worth engendered by the knowledge that each and every one of us are equally beloved in the eyes of our Creator and Redeemer.

By contrast with that, the gifts our missions bestow on the inner cities are tawdry in the extreme. Churches that really want to have an impact on the ills that afflict the inner city of today would, thus, be wise to start missions that aim to serve both body and soul.

We are commissioned to be evangelists, after all, not state-employed social workers. Far from acquiescing in the marginalization of Christianity, it is our task, above all, to spread the Gospel.

As to “personal ministry,” it’s a dandy notion. But, again, its primary purpose must be to propagate the Gospel. What is often called “personal ministry” might actually be more accurately described as political work or, perhaps, a hobby.

Truth to tell, the best first step a Christian can take towards developing a “personal ministry” is to try to apply the Faith in every aspect of daily living. It’s what the Church used to mean by “witnessing for the Faith.”

It’s a strategy devised by our Lord Jesus Christ. You’ll find it in Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.”

St. Francis of Assisi put it another way: “Preach the Gospel always,” he commanded his brothers, “Use words if you have to.”

It is the hardest ministry we have been charged with—and, potentially, the most fruitful. GPH✠

1 comment to Why do churches miss the point on missions?

  • Hi,
    I read the story from Father Hautin about missions work and would like to mention that my fiancée Scott Morris and I are 40 year old U.S. citizens who are very interested in teaming up/partnering with missionaries of the U.K. and Ireland and then departing again from the U.K. on a long-term religious mission trip to the developing world. I am accustomed to the Anglican Church and Lutheran Church traditions in the United States and our current priest or pastor is Pastor William Ridenour of First English Lutheran Church of Wheeling, West Virginia. We are extremely flexible and adaptable, although we would need to raise the money needed for our trip to the U.K. and developing country of service. My fiancée and I want an opportunity to help with general Christian evangelism by spreading of the Gospel, helping those at the missionary service site location with water distribution, food distribution, clothing distribution, building homes, tent making and any other vital need of the site community we could accommodate. We also hope to spend a small religious working “honeymoon-vacation in the U.K. during which we would be willing to assist area churches that need volunteers.
    Please send us more information about any Anglican missionary projects, Anglican missionary contact persons, especially in the U.K. and Ireland, any informational websites, books, training, scholarships, sending agencies, funding opportunities and etcetera you think may be helpful. I would be especially interested also in finding out about any possible religious scholarship programs for lay missionary training or fundraising opportunities.
    Feel free to contact us at the email listed above, marycurtisd@outlook.com, write us at “Attention Mary Anne Donovan’, 84 Fifteenth Street, Wheeling, West Virginia 26003, call us eves at either 234.303.4892 or 304.233.4400 , selecting option #1 for voicemail if no one picks up at the second phone. Be sure to include my name and a good time to call you back.